Suhrid Barua has an unbridled passion for business and sports. He has worked/written for media houses like Thatscricket.com, The New Indian Express, MiD Day, Maharastra Herald (now Sakaal Times), Pune Mirror (Times of India's tabloid daily), CricketCountry, The Assam Tribune, The Telegraph and Sportskeeda. Watch out for this blog space for interviews, analysis, match coverage, stats figures and much more!

Tuesday, August 16, 2016

Indian men’s shuttler Ajay Jayaram
is enjoying a good run – the 29-year-old Mumbai broke into the top-20
recently for the first time ever following semifinal appearances at the US Open and Canadian Open. Jayaram – currently ranked 19 in the world – spoke about his game and much more in an exclusive interview.Excerpts:Q. How does it feel to break into the top-20 - your career best singles ranking so far?

It definitely feels great to break into
the top 20 again. However, the hope, this time, is to go further by
maintaining a consistent level of performance.Q. You had
two semifinal finishes at the US Open and Canadian Open. In hindsight
with a bit of luck, you could have won both these titles. Your thoughts?True.
I have mixed feelings about both those performances. I did play some
good matches to reach the last 4 stage in both tournaments. However, I
can't be happy about my performance in both the semifinals I played. I
struggled a bit with my shoulder in Canada when I was up against Lee
Hyun-il which made it hard for me to give my best.I thought I had
a much better chance in US where I played against the young Japanese,
Kanta Tsuneyama. But I never really found any rhythm and the match
slipped away before I could settle down. Disappointing end to an
otherwise good tournament, but lots to learn.Q. There
weIre many Indians in the fray - Praneeth, Pranoy, Guru and Anand among
others. How satisfying is it to make it to the semis of US Open?Winning
matches and making it to the semis or finals of a tournament always
feels good irrespective of whether there are Indians or not. Also,
considering the number of Indian men's singles players who are currently
in the top 50 and 100 in the world, and a rising number of juniors who
are always eager to do well and make a mark, most tournaments would
feature a good number of Indians. And this is always great because
you're bound to see more encouraging performances as has been observed
in the recent past.Q. Do you think at 29 you are playing best badminton of your career?I guess and, more importantly, I hope my best is yet to comeQ. What are the positives you think has helped you to up your performance and rankings?My
performances in the past few months prior to this circuit had dipped
owing to lack of training. So I decided to skip the Australia and
Indonesia Open and get some weeks of good quality training. I'm glad
that it has showed positive results. I still believe, however, that a
lot more work needs to be done.Q. Every player looks to improve - what will be your improvement areas?My
fitness has risen over the past month and that's something I will have
to maintain. Apart from that I believe adding a bit more of variation in
my strokes and varying the general pace of rallies from time to time
will help me immenselyQ. How has been your experience of playing against the singles' top players. What does it take to beat them?It's
always great to play against the top players. You learn a lot each
time. For that matter, you learn something from every good match you
play, win or lose. What sets the top few apart is, I guess, their
confidence and ability to perform at a constant level match after match.
Another very important aspect I believe is how well you manage to stay
injury free.Q. What are the learnings you had from playing in the PBL?PBL
was different in the sense that you had an added element of pressure of
your team depending on you. So learning to handle that was something I
could take out of that.Q. What goals have you set for yourself for the future?I
am currently enjoying training and playing/competing at this level.
That is a very important thing for me. I think something as basic, but
immensely difficult as giving your best and playing at a consistent
level in every match, every tournament is something I want to focus on.
Last year I finished with a silver in a Super Series event. So hoping to
do one better and emerge with a win.

Controversies just refuse to die away when it comes to Indian wrestling. India’s 74-kg freestyle grappler Narsingh Yadav’s being testing positive for a banned substance
has hurt Indian wrestling in a big way – the official confirmation by
the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) has thrown a cloud of uncertainty
over who will represent India in the 74-kg category at the Rio Olympics.Indian
wrestling has been rocked earlier by the so-called ‘Sushil Kumar vs
Narsingh Yadav’ fiasco, as to who will play for the country in the
freestyle 74-kg category after the latter had sealed the Olympic berth
winning a bronze medal at the 2015 World Championships in the USA.Former
wrestling great and Sushil Kumar’s coach Satpal Singh says the whole
development is ill-timed. “It’s unfortunate that Indian wrestling has to
face such a situation where a player is tested positive with just ten
days to go for the Olympics,” he says.The former wrestling great
believes the image of the sport has surely taken a beating. “There is no
doubt that Indian wrestling is on a high and everyone is expecting
medals from our grapplers. But the reputation of Indian wrestling has
taken a pounding because of this latest development,” he observes.Narsingh had said that he is ‘innocent’ and that the whole testing positive thing is nothing but a conspiracy.
Satpal puts forth his views on the same. “Look, NADA has caught him
using a banned substance and how can it be a conspiracy. India wants its
wrestlers to do well in the Olympics and it is not fair for Narsingh to
say it is a conspiracy.“I have nothing against Narsingh but this whole thing was uncalled for,” he quips.Now with Narsingh being handed provisional suspension and virtually ruled out of next month's Olympics, it remains to be whether Sushil can replace him in Rio.
Insiders say there may be no Indian representation in the 74kg category
in Rio Games because the date of entry of the athletes is over.“It
is for the WFI to decide on whom to send for Rio. I can’t comment on it
– all I’m saying is the country should not miss out on an opportunity
to send a representation in 74-kg,” he adds.

Indian shooting contingent invariably have to carry ‘high
expectations’ whenever they head to the summer Olympics. Why not? After
all, the Indian marksmen have never returned empty-handed from the
marquee event since Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore won a silver medal at the
2004 Athens Olympics, a feat which was bettered by Abhinav Bindra’s
gold winning showing in Beijing in 2008 and the ‘medal-winning momentum’
was maintained by Gagan Narang and Vijay Kumar in London in 2012.As the 2016 Rio Olympics
draws closer, the Indian shooters will hope to grab the limelight – and
one man, who will look to prove that his solid performance on the
international stage in recent years is no fluke, is talented Jitu Rai.
The 29-year-old Army shooter has ‘done much’ on the international stage
in recent years to exude hope among shooting fans about being a
potential medal prospect.Every athlete needs a nice build-up going into the Olympics, and Jitu seems to have ticked all the boxes on this front.The
ace shooter had started the year with a gold medal finish at the ISSF
World Cup in Bangkok in March in the men’s 50-metre pistol event –
following it up by bagging a silver medal in the men’s 10-metre air pistol event at the ISSF World Cup in Baku. Clearly, these performances will stand him in good stead for the Rio Olympics.The
ISSF World Cup does provide a fair idea of where a shooter stands on
the world level. Why Jitu’s gold and silver medal-winning efforts in
Bangkok and Baku are significant, because he had a pretty rough time in
2015 – winning only a bronze medal at the 2015 ISSF World Cup in
Changwon.The lone medal effort at the ISSF World Cup is seen as a
disappointment because he really rocked in 2014 winning three ISSF
World Cup medals – one silver in Maribor and one silver in Munich ISSF
World Cups, as well as winning gold medals in the men’s 50 metre pistol
at the 2014 Incheon Asian Games and 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games.Eight
ISSF World Cup medals in last three years must be some ‘performance’
from Jitu and no wonder medal hopes are soaring from the Indian shooting
fans. The one question that is asked is that in which event Jitu
fancies his medal hopes – 50-metre pistol or 10-metre air pistol?As
far as the 50-metre pistol event is concerned, Jitu’s main challengers
will be Ukraine’s Oleh Omlechuk (who won the Rio de Janeiro ISSF World
Cup), Spain’s Pablo Carrera (he had won the Munich ISSF World Cup),
Korea’s Jin Jongoh (he had won the Baku ISSF World Cup) besides the
Chinese duo of Wei Pang and Wang Zhiwei.Not to speak much of
fancied Brazilian Felipe Almeida Wu, who had won two of the 2016 ISSF
World Cup crowns in the men’s 10-metre air pistol event. One hopes that
Jitu who had become the first Indian shooter to earn a Rio quota in
September 2015, with a second place finish at the 2015 World
Championships in Spain, won’t disappoint his fans and put in a
blockbuster performance in Rio.

He is the most experienced Indian male boxer – yes, Manoj Kumar has
a bucketful of experience – and will look to optimise that when he
boxes for the country in the light welterweight category (64kg) of the
upcoming 2016 Rio Olympics.
The 29-year-old with a massive 11 years of international experience,
will be travelling to London next week as part of the Talent Olympic
Podium (TOP) scheme to fine-tune his preparations for the games after
having made the Rio cut after the Baku Olympic Qualifying Event
recently.The Haryana lad, who is employed with the Indian
Railways, spoke about his Olympic aspirations and much more in an
exclusive interview.Here are a few excerpts from the interview:Q: How satisfying it is to qualify for your second consecutive Olympics?It
feels good to make the Olympic cut – we all work hard with the
aspiration of representing our country in the Olympics and I consider
myself fortunate to be featuring in my second Olympics.Q:
You featured in as many five bouts before you qualified for the Rio
Olympics by reaching the last-four stage of the 64kg category – how
would you sum up your overall experience in Baku?I
outboxed boxers from Puerto Rico, Ireland, Bulgaria and Tajikistan
before I lost to Great Britain’s Pat MacCormack in the semifinals – all
my bouts were hard-fought and I really had to be at my best to win all
my bouts.Q: You have been boxing in the light
welterweight category (64kg) for eleven years now – how much this rich
experience will help you in Rio?Experience do matter and
I need to use it to my best advantage in Rio – all I want to say is I
will give my best shot and if the Almighty showers his blessings who
knows I might end up with a podium finish.Also read: Rio Olympics 2016: Boxer Manoj Kumar books an August date in BrazilQ:
You lost in the second round of the 64kg at the 2012 London Olympics –
having experienced the Olympic stage must be of big help to you this
time around. Four years ago, I was thrilled to bits playing in the Olympics but
now the focus is not just on boxing for the country but winning a medal
and making the country proud. Keeping my fingers crossed.Q:
You were not earlier part of the Government’s Target Olympic Podium
(TOP) scheme but you have been inducted after qualifying for the Rio
Olympics. I’m really happy to avail the TOP scheme – my
coach Rajesh Kumar is also travelling with me to London next week for a
three-week training stint along with the national squad and other
coaching staff.Q: You owe a lot to your elder brother turned coach Rajesh Kumar for whatever you have achieved in boxing. Your thoughts.Rajesh
is five years elder to me and the kind of setbacks I have endured in my
boxing career it would not have been possible for Rajesh – he is a
pillar of strength for me – if he was not supporting me I don’t know
where I would have been languishing today. He is everything for me.Q You have said on most occasions that you always got a raw deal – your thoughts.Many would have given up boxing if they experienced the setbacks I
have come up against. My steely resolve allowed me to surmount
everything and focus on boxing.Q: You have expressed your desire to quit international boxing with an Olympic bang?I would like to go out on a high but can’t say much about the future. For now, I want to win a medal for my country.

HS Prannoy
is down with a toe injury, which put him out of the India team for the
Thomas Cup. The 23-year-old youngster from Kerala is doing everything he
can to return to the international circuit. Prannoy, who had won the
2016 Swiss Open in Basel, talks about his game and much more in an
exclusive interview.Excerpts:Q You missed the Thomas Cup due to a toe injury – how is your recovery process going on?

I sustained a toe injury at the Singapore Open and subsequently had to miss the Thomas Cup.
My rehab has been good so far – I hope to return to the international
circuit by June-end – I’m aiming to play in the Canadian Open and US
Open. Keeping my fingers crossed.Q India’s Thomas Cup performance was disappointing – your thoughts.I
think we are not at full strength – me, Kashyap and Srikanth did not
play in the Thomas Cup. I feel that the outcome could have been
different if we were at full strength though the boys gave their best.Q Is there any disappointment at missing playing in the 2016 Rio Olympics?I’m
a tad disappointed at not making the Olympic cut – I have taken it in
my stride and want to return to the circuit injury-free and win
tournaments.Q Indian shuttlers have been consistently grappling with injuries – how frustrating it is to cope with injuries?The
most important thing is to know why an injury has occurred and
accordingly take corrective measures. Equally important is not to rush
your return to the international circuit. There is no point in looking
at short-term goals of what if I miss a few tournaments as we all need
to look at the bigger picture. I have been down with injuries on several
occasions in last few years and I know it is futile to get frustrated
as I try to stay positive.Q How would you sum up your Swiss Open triumph?It
was really satisfying to win the Swiss Open – I beat higher ranked
players like Germany’s Marc Zwiebler and England’s Rajiv Ouseph en route
to winning the crown.Q After the Swiss Open win, you faced a string of first round defeats. Your thoughts.I
don’t want to give any excuses but I was handed some tough draws in
most of these tourneys – I ran into guys like Kento Momoto and Chen Long
at the Malaysian Open and Singapore Open – I played my heart out but it
wasn’t enough.Q You played for Mumbai Rockets in the 2016 Premier Badminton League. How was your experience?It
was a fantastic experience to play in the PBL – the way it was
conducted was laudable – crowds have thronged the venue, especially the
final where we lost to Delhi Acers. I just hope the PBL is held every
year.Q India has seen seven-eight men singles players
figuring in the top-50 in the last few years or so – does that tell you
something about the health of Indian badminton?Absolutely!
There was a time when we had only Saina reaping laurels for the country
– now we have Sindhu, Srikanth, Kashyap among many others. I guess
Indian badminton will get even better in future.

Indian women boxing contingent had never returned empty-handed from
the AIBA World Championship and Sonia Lather deserves all praise for
ensuring the country came home with a coveted silver medal in the
marquee event. The 24-year-old pugilist, who hails from Haryana’s Jind
district, lost the featherweight (57-kg) category to Italy’s Alessia
Mesiano in a tight contest.Employed with the Railways, Sonia, who
did not box for India for three years since the 2012 Asian
Championship, spoke about her world championship ‘highs’ and much more
in an exclusive interview.Excerpts:

Q You must have been a special feeling to win a silver medal
at the 2016 AIBA World Championship in Astana, Kazakhstan. Your
thoughts.I’m really happy to win a medal for my country.
I’m a tad disappointed that I could not win my final bout against
Italy’s Alessia Mesiano. I thought the final bout was a close affair and
I really had my chances to go for glory, but it was not destined to be
my day.

Q You won four bouts to reach the final of the featherweight (57-kg) category. Can you sum up all your bouts?

I
fought against a Mongolian, a German and a Polish opponent in the first
three rounds and I was in full control in these bouts. I was little
apprehensive about my semifinal bout against Kazakhstan’s Aizhan
Khojabekova not because she was a great boxer but because she is from
the host nation. Beating a pugilist from the host nation always gives a
joyous feeling.

Q This is the first time you fought in
the featherweight (57-kg) category and you won a medal at the world
championships – you have been out of the national team for three years.
This must have been really satisfying win?

I was a
national champion in 2010, 2011 and 2012 in the bantamweight category
(54-kg) which is my pet weight category but I was not getting
opportunities to represent the nation. I gave trials for the lightweight
(60-kg) category for the 2016 world championships but was picked for
the featherweight (57-kg category).

Q You last played for
India at the 2012 Asian Boxing Championship in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia,
where you had won a silver medal in the bantamweight category (54-kg) –
you played in the 2016 world championship after three years in the
wilderness.

Politics is always there in the selection of
boxers. I was not getting picked despite performing. My world
championship medal proves that I’m the best in the featherweight
category. It is never easy to perform on the international stage when
you have not represented the country for three years.

Q How disappointing it is to see none of our women boxers securing an Olympic berth?

It’s
a sad feeling indeed. It would have been nice to have our boxers in Rio
but not qualifying for the Olympics is a reality we have to come to
terms with.

Q How do you look at the future of Indian women boxing?

There
is a future only if a federation is put in place. We have been boxing
under the AIBA flag and boxers are the bigger sufferers – youngsters are
only training and no nationals being are being held since 2014. I just
hope a federation takes control of Indian boxing soon.Q Tell us about your family and where you started picking up boxing?

I’m the only one boxing in the family. My father is a farmer – I have two sisters and one brother.

Neil Hawgood knows his girls quite well now – after all, he has been
working with them for a long time now. He took charge of the Indian
women’s hockey team in mid-2012 and left the job in late 2014 before
again taking up the head coach role in November 2015 to prepare the
national women’s team for the 2016 Rio Olympics. The Aussie, who had
played in the 1988 Seoul Olympics, talks about his team’s improvement
areas and much more in an exclusive interview.

Excerpts:

Q
The recent tour of England has been a big disappointment for the Indian
women’s team – they lost all their five matches – conceding 21 goals.
How would you sum up your team’s performance on the England tour?

While the results were disappointing,
ass you have stated in our big losses we conceded goals in short periods
of play, like the last game where we had to replace our goalkeeper at
halftime due to an injury and then conceded 4 goals in about 8 minutes.But
that was us dealing with them for two quarters of the game. So the
results do not always tell you a whole picture, so yes it was
disappointing but there were signs of us being able to compete and be
competitive, but we could not sustain that for four quarters of hockey.Q
Ever since we qualified for the Olympics after a gap of 36 years, do
you feel that the Indian team appeared to have gone off the boil if
their performances in South Africa, New Zealand and England are anything
to go by – your thoughts?Well, Argentina and South
Africa, were actually quite good tours for us, we were able to beat
South Africa for the first time in 10 years I believe, so that was
encouraging, and prior to that we toured Argentina where we drew with
Australia, and drew with China and drew one game with Argentina.Since
those tours, we have put the group through one of the hardest training
phases that we could, and while the results were not media-friendly, I
think we were expecting this down in performance – obviously England was
a bit more disappointing than we would have hoped for. So we are now
coming out of that training phase, so hopefully in the next phase we
will see recovery faster and also more consistent effort during games.Q Indian forward line is quite talented but hasn’t delivered much in New Zealand and England. Does that concern you?Talented
yes, but definitely has not delivered since New Zealand, but before
that in Argentina and South Africa, they did deliver.Q
This is your second stint as Indian women team head coach – you had a
pretty successful stint from mid-2012 to 2014-end – the team won a
silver medal at the 2013 Asian Champions Trophy besides bagging a
bronze medal at the 2014 Asian Games. How would you differentiate your
two coaching stints with the Indian team?I cannot say
any differences, as I treat them both as projects, the first project was
to promote the youth and change the way we trained and prepared
physically for tournaments. The second stint is the same, progress the
group to another level which is required at the Olympics in August.Q
Realistically speaking, the Indian team isn’t expected to make a podium
finish at the 2016 Rio Olympics, but the team have shown that they can
hold their own against top teams. What’s your take?Dealing
with external and internal goals is different – our goal is simple,
first to make the quarter-finals and that means winning two games. When
we achieve that it is just one game you have to win to have a chance to
proceed, that is what we want to do, put ourselves into that position.Q How would you assess our penalty corner conversion rate and also our ability to defend them?On
both areas, we need to work hard in the last phase on these areas, but
all has to be put in line with what our priorities are and move towards
having all areas covered and PCs are one of those areas.Q
Fitness- wise Indian team have made rapid strides in recent years –
where do you think our team needs to work on before they start regularly
beating sides like Netherlands, Australia, New Zealand, Argentina and
Great Britain?It is the strength to be able to push that
fitness level to match the rest of the world if you are physically not
strong there is a limit to where you can push the physical limits.Q
You have been a big match player yourself having played in two World
Cups and Seoul Olympics. The Rio Olympics is a first big tournament for
the Indian girls – surely your big match experience will help our girls.Our
new assistant coach has been to 6 Olympics and as you have stated my
tournaments, we can only advise on our experiences and the first will
always be difficult. But the issue will be that all 16 players taking
the field, not having that experience, so we can explain and talk about
our experiences, but playing we can only prepare as well as we can, and
hopefully mentally they are prepared as well as they will be
physically.Q Do you feel there is more awareness about women hockey in India after we qualified for the Olympics after a gap of 36 years?Yes,
I believe there is a more general awareness of women hockey in India,
and we have played our part, what we need to do is start to play a
bigger part in women’s sport by becoming consistent and performing in
major international events.Q What are the international tournaments India are playing heading into the Rio Olympics?We
have a Four Nation Tournament in Australia next week, then we select
our Olympic team and then we head to USA fro a pre-Olympic holding and
training camp and play matches against USA and Canada in July.Q What will be your message to the Indian women hockey fans?Remain positive as change takes time, and this is a major step in changing that.

The ‘consistent absence of a boxing federation’ in India had its
first major casualty with the country’s women boxers putting up a hugely
disappointing performance at the 9th AIBA World Championship in Astana,
Kazakhstan. The world championship is always the most watched event as
there is a lot of stake for boxers across the globe, but this time
around this event had ‘extra importance’ as there were Olympic berths up for grabs.Indian boxing fans’ eyes were on three boxers – MC Mary Kom (51-kg), Laishram Sarita Devi (60-kg) and Pooja Rani (75-kg) –
all these were boxing in weight categories where Olympic spots were on
offer. What is frustrating about these boxers is that none of them even
came close to sealing an Olympic or at least reached the business end of
the tournament.So much was expected from Mary Kom, who made a
good beginning winning her first round bout only to send the country in a
state of extreme sadness with her exit in the next round losing to a
German opponent. Her state-mate Laishram Sarita Devi could not even go
past her first round bout against a Belarusian opponent – Pooja Rani
(75-kg) did give us some hope by entering the last eight stage only to
falter there.

Forget the Olympic aspirations being crushed, even the likes of Saweety Boora (81-kg) and L Sarjubala Devi
(45-48-kg)– both silver medalists in the 2014 world championship – were
shown the tournament exit door in the quarterfinal stage. Nikhat Zareen (54-kg) did win two bouts and like Seema Punia
(81+-kg) bowed out in the last eight stage. Pavitra (64-kg) and Meena
Kumari (69-kg) came a cropper crashing out in the first round.So
what explains the poor performance of our women boxers, who have been
consistently winning medals at the world championships? For a nation
that has never returned empty-handed from this event, it looked in
danger of not winning a medal in Astana, but Sonia Lather assured one by
reaching the semifinals in the 57-kg category.

The lack of urgency on
the part of boxing stakeholders to have a federation in place is clearly
responsible for our women boxers’ poor showing in the world
championships.Just having series of sustained training camps is
not enough as our boxers were deprived of vital international exposure.
The quality of sparring partners in each weight category is also crucial
as merely slogging at national camps is never going to be enough. This
is where our boxers cannot be faulted – in fact, they have been faring
well in whatever international competitions they participate in last few
years when the federation logjam was going on.One just hopes
that the stalemate regarding having a federation in place does not hurt
the Olympic aspirations of our men boxers or are we going to have one
boxing representative (both men and women combined) at the Rio Olympics?
If we indeed have just Shiva Thapa at Rio, it will be a sad thing for
Indian boxing!

Punjab and Sind Bank (PSB) likes to quietly go about its business
without really hogging the limelight. The bank men have become the team
to beat in the Indian domestic circuit. A close look at their
performances in recent months will indicate that they are one of the
consistent teams around.

The PSB outfit, of course, are riding
high, after winning the 6th Hockey India-organised Senior Nationals (B
Division) in Saifai, Etawah, Uttar Pradesh. The bank men outduelled
Chandigarh 4-3 in a penalty shootout after both teams were locked 1-1 in
regulation time.The PSB side may not probably match teams like
Indian Oil Corporation, BPCL, Railways, ONGC and Air India in terms of
boasting off too many internationals in their ranks, but they do have a
nice blend of talented internationals and domestic talent to do the job
for them.

Punjab and Sind Bank features Indian striker Ramandeep
Singh, goalkeeper Harjot Singh, fullback Harbir Singh besides Satbir
Singh besides some other former internationals – the most prominent
being Sarvanjit Singh – who never played for India after being dropped
after the disastrous 2012 London Olympic campaign.“Punjab and
Sind Bank has a good team in place. Under coach Rajinder Singhji, PSB
has done well. We won a tight final against Chandigarh to win the Senior
Nationals (B Division). We had an easy win against Delhi in the
semifinal but the final was a tough game for us – this made it four
title wins for us in the last eight months or so,” says Sarvanjit Singh,
who has played a part in all their wins.

Punjab and Sind Bank won
the 120th Beighton Cup Hockey Tournament in Kolkata in October last
year, pipping IOC 5-3 in the final after both teams were tied 1-1 in
regulation time.PSB subsequently won the 45th S.N. Vohra’s
All-India Gurmit Memorial Hockey Tournament in Chandigarh in November
last year, downing Punjab Police 4-0 in the final. The bank men
completed a hat-trick of title wins, clinching the 52nd Nehru Senior
Hockey Tournament in Delhi in the same month, beating Punjab National
Bank 2-1 in the final.And the Senior Nationals triumph in Saifai
was brought one thing to the fore - Punjab and Sind Bank has clearly
stolen a march over much-fancied sides like IOC, Air India and BPCL.

Grappler Sushil Kumar
looked like whipping up a sympathy wave but his honest efforts to have a
trial to decide, who represents India in the men’s freestyle 74kg
category at the Rio Olympics appears to have backfired. With the Sports
Ministry clearly indicating that it will not interfere in the selection
process of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI), it does look as if
hopes of a trial are fast fading out.Sushil, on his part, has
been categorical that he does not want any ‘favours’ because of his past
laurels and only wants a trial. It is, however, difficult to
overlook the case of Narsingh Yadav. The Mumbai wrestler has been
wrestling in the 74-kg since he entered the senior circuit. One may say
how can Narsingh assure an Olympic a medal or even ask about his current
form and fitness given the fact that he qualified for the Olympics by
winning a bronze at the 2015 World Championships in Las Vegas – that was
eight months back and one is not sure what kind of match fitness he has
at present.

Sushil to his discredit, has shied away from wrestling tournaments in
74-kg and only took part in 74-kg at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in
Glasgow. The fact that Sushil hasn’t wrestled in any international
tourneys in his newly-switched weight category is actually going against
him in his bid to have trials.

Since the last Olympics, had
Sushil grappled consistently in the 74-kg category, then it would have
made a strong case for a trial. But his reluctance to only focus on the
Olympics and skip events is working against him.

Two back-to-back
Olympic medals is a rarity for India at the Olympics when it comes to
individual sports. One also feels that the Wrestling Federation of India
(WFI) could have avoided all the controversy by making its point clear.
The WFI did give the impression that the trials will be held for the
74-kg, but now seem to be developing cold feet as they are wary that
other wrestlers may demand trials in their respective weight categories.Sushil
is an icon and nobody denies that – but the Sports Ministry’s latest
stand has perhaps taken the sting out of all the sympathy he was
generating.

The two-fold dilemma for the WFI is – first to allow
Narsingh to play in 74-kg for he has won the quota place and has been
regularly playing in the same weight category for a long time and second
how to deny trials to a man, who gave back-to-back Olympics medals to
the country.

Trial or no trial, the WFI could have done its bit to
avoid the unwanted controversy when the focus should have been more on
the Olympic preparations. It’s not important whether there should be
trials or a wrestler could represent the country at Olympics by virtue
of winning the quota place- what’s more significant is – can India win a
medal in this weight category at Rio.

Eyebrows were raised when Sandeep Tomar was picked
in the national team for the men’s 57-kg freestyle category for the
Mongolia Olympic Qualifying Tournament ahead of the likes of Amit Kumar
Dahiya and Rahul Aware. But the 24-year-old wrestler, who hails from
Malakpur village in Baghpat district of Uttar Pradesh, choose to let his
wrestling do all the talking as he not only won a bronze medal in
Mongolia but also won an Olympic quota place for the country. Sandeep,
who is employed with the India Navy, spoke about his highs in Mongolia
and much more in an exclusive interview.Excerpts:Q
You qualified for the men’s 57-kg freestyle category in the Olympic
Qualifying Tournament held in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia in the backdrop of
the controversy generated over the non-inclusion of Rahul Aware, who had
won a bronze medal at the Astana Olympic Qualifying Event – your
thoughts

Well, my federation (Wrestling
Federation of India) gave me a responsibility to win an Olympic quota
for my country at Mongolia, and I was really happy to have made the
Olympic cut. Q How optimistic you are about your medal-winning chances at the Rio Olympics?I
want to assure all that I will win a medal at Rio. I have been working
hard and strictly following what my coaches have been telling me, in
terms of working on my shortfalls. I’m confident of pulling off a solid
performance in Rio.Q At the 2016 Olympic Qualifying Event in Mongolia, you had to battle past five rounds before winning an Olympic quotaplace. How would you sum your overall performance in Mongolia?All
the bouts were good – I beat a Turkish opponent in the first round and
then went on to outwrestle a Kyrgyzstan grappler, who is an Asian
championship bronze medallist. My semifinal against Azerbaijan’s
Mirjalal Hasanzada went right down to the wire – he took the final two
points after trailing 0-6 to win the bout as the one who wins the last
point goes through. The Ukrainian I beat in the bronze medal play-off
bout is a world junior champion. I had to be at my best to qualify for
the Rio Olympics.Q
2016 has been a good year for you so far – besides this Olympic quota
place you also won the gold medal at the 2016 Asian Championship in
Bangkok.You could say that – the 2016 Asian Championship
was a big tournament for me – I beat North Korea’s Jong Hak-jin to
clinch the gold medal. That performance really helped my confidence in
the Mongolia Olympic Qualifiers.Q Traditionally, a wrestler who wins the quota gets to represent the country in that weight category. Your thoughts. I
don’t want to say anything – our federation will take a call on whether
to allow the quota winner to play in the Olympics or conduct trials.Q Who do you think will be biggest contenders in the 57-kg?Wrestlers from Russia, Georgia, Iran and Mongolia are really strong and I’m expecting a stiff fight from them in Rio.Q
There is a general feeling that there is fierce competition in the
men’s freestyle 57-kg category with the likes of Amit Kumar Dahiya and
Rahul Aware around. What’s your take?Robust competition
is always good for any wrestler – I think it ensures every wrestler is
on their toes with little room for complacency.Q You work in the Indian Navy – how much of a support system they have been your wrestling career?Indian Navy has been a pillar of support for me. I really feel grateful to Indian Navy for all the supported provided to me.Q How many medals do you will think the Indian wrestling contingent can get at the Rio Olympics?India
will be fielding a big contingent – 8 wrestlers – after a long time –
we had seven in 2004 Olympics – I’m confident that India can win 4-5
medals in Rio.

Kidambi Srikanth
is taking all care to ensure he is ready for the 2016 Rio Olympics. The
23-year-old, who is ranked number twelve in the world, is fully focused
on the big-ticket event. Srikanth talks about his preparations and much
more in an exclusive interview.Excerpts:Q. How are your preparations going on for the 2016 Rio Olympics?

I’m trying to stay focused and do well
in the Olympics. I will be playing in either the Australian Open or the
Indonesian Open – will soon take a call on that.Q. You are the lone representative for India in men’s singles at the Rio Olympics.It
would have been nice to have one more Indian men’s singles player at
the Olympics. Unfortunately, Parupalli Kashyap got injured and HS Pranoy
missed the qualifying mark by a whisker. The onus is on me to make an
impact at Rio.Q. You have beaten most top players in last two years or so – how confident are you of bagging a medal at Rio?Well,
I don’t want to go to the Rio Olympics just as a participant – my focus
is to win a medal for the country. I have beaten most top shuttlers in
recent times and it is not tough for me to overcome these guys. I
was world number 3 for a long while and I know I have the ammunition to
overcome any player on any given day. There is no bigger stage than the
Olympics and I will be keen to leave a mark in Rio.Q. How would you sum up your first few months of 2016?I
think things did not go my way in the first two-three months but I have
done well in the last four-five weeks. You can’t be winning all the
time and losing all the time. You will hit a winning streak or either
hit a losing streak. It’s all part of the package of being an
international player.Q. How important it is to stay injury-free going into the Rio Olympics?Look,
I will try to do things in a proper way and hope for the best. You can
only control things which are under your control like my body. If
injuries happen, there is not much you can do.Q. Are you trying to avoid playing too many tournaments ahead of the Rio Olympics?I
have been playing too many tournaments over the last twelve months. I
had played in the SAF Games as well as the PBL. The coming three months
are crucial for me and I don’t want to play in too many events so that I
remain fresh at Rio.Q. Finally, how was your PBL experience?It
was a fantastic experience. I just hope the PBL is held every year
without any hiccups – there is no doubt that PBL has given a big boost
to Indian badminton.